Too Hot to Eat (Four Seasons, part II)
by Luinwen-2013
Summary: Diaval tries a different spice, but birds don't taste chili the same way other beings do. It was a huge mistake. Or perhaps not. (Sequel to "Mating Season"; Maleval)


The weather was coherent with the season, but seemingly the season tuned things a tad too far for most of the inhabitants of the Moors and Aurora's human kingdom. Not a leaf moved in the still air, and everyone was collapsed in the shadows or seeking pools and brooks to refresh a bit. Unless for Diaval.

"Don't know where you find energy to prepare this meal." Noted Maleficent, fanning herself with a fallen leaf.

"Just want to make you something to stir up your appetite, mistress. You've not been eating well lately."

The raven-man minced the mushrooms with his fingers and added them to the pot carved out of stone.

"It's too hot to eat!" The fae complained.

"All you need is a good tiffin of mixed greenstuff seasoned with love."

"Hmm… forget the food, give me the spice!"

Diaval laughed at her teasing, happy to see her in such a good mood. Actually, that mood was becoming the rule instead of the exception since the end of Aurora's curse and demise of her father. This thought made him keep a stupid smile for a while longer.

"What are you mixing there? Smells good."

"Hmm, we'll have cucumber, tomatoes, onion, mushrooms and zucchini, seasoned with parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, lemon juice and a secret ingredient I got in the castle."

"In the castle? So, this meal was premeditated."

"Hey! You make it sound as if I were up to some mischief!"

"Ain't you always?"

The lifting of her eyebrows made his smile come back in a flash of joy. Most people (of every species) mistook her unreadable facial expression for nonchalance, yet Diaval knew better. It was only her shield – and sometimes her only shield – to a world she felt menacing, to overwhelming responsibilities and, for long years, against joy she felt undeserving. How could she deserve anything but her loneliness if she had been stupid enough to let a human deceive her?

Now she had her heart back in the right place, thanks to said human's daughter, but years of hiding her feelings behind a mask of detachment left its marks.

"Old habits are hard to break, mistress."

He said this on behalf of both, mixing the vegetables with a wooden spoon before sitting down at her side and presenting them with a flourish. Maleficent sat up and stretched, mustering force to eat in that hell-hot Summer. But Diaval's effort to make her that meal could not be wasted, could it? She took the wooden bowl and stuffed a large portion of the mixture in her mouth.

The lemon juice mixed well with the cucumber and tomatoes, and the mushrooms could be perfect with the parsley if it weren't for…

"It's too hot! Diaval, it's too hot to eat!"

Maleficent flew from their nest straight to the nearest water course, kneeling beside it and washing her mouth off the offending taste. Diaval was beside her in no time at all, appalled.

"Maleficent, what's wrong?"

"What was the 'secret ingredient', for goodness sake, Diaval? Chili?"

"Chili? No! I'd never… I know you don't like chili, my love, why would I…?"

The fae splashed her face, trying to get rid of the extra heat the food provided.

"If that wasn't chili, then what? Did you even _taste_ it?"

Diaval held her hair out of her face in an attempt to help her refresh herself.

"I tried it in the castle, once, I found it interesting, but not _burning_ as you use to accuse chili. You know I avoid anything named _chili_ on your behalf."

The burning taste descended to her throat and she gulped mouthfuls of water to quench it.

"Well, guess it's time to put another thing in the list of banned foods. What was it, after all?"

"They name it _paprika_."

"Paprika?" Maleficent turned her glare to Diaval's innocent face.

"Aye, paprika. Not chili."

Her eyes shone dangerously.

"Not chili."

"Not chili."

His absence of malice was disconcerting, and Maleficent shook his head before twitching her fingers and throwing a gallon of water on Diaval's head.

"What…?"

"Diaval, Diaval, my crazy bird, you'll be the death of me someday!"

The shapeshifter's confusion was only increased by her grabbing his hair and pulling him closer for a breathtaking kiss.

"What have I done this time?" He mumbled in between her kisses.

"Nothing, my bird-tonged love."

"What…" An idea started to form in his head, causing him to frown. "What _is_ paprika?"

Maleficent was wetting her dress in his own drenched clothes, but seemed not to care.

"Paprika, you unfinished project of lunacy, is the name a foreign realm gives to certain kinds of… smoked and powdered _red chili_ …."

"Oh, mistress…"

His face fell and he hid it behind his palms. Diaval was only grateful her hatred days were over, else he was certain to be turned into a mealy worm forever, but the worst was the guilt he felt for having caused his mistress such a pain. His own bird tongue didn't taste the burning active principle in chili, and it was so even in his human form. He would have to change his method of avoiding offending foods and spices for Maleficent if he was to keep taking care of her nourishment.

She gently pulled his fingers from his face and pressed a kiss on the tip of his pointy nose.

"Do you know what gives me a real relief?"

"Water?" He tried.

"To know life will never be dull by your side!" She kissed him again and twisted her fingers. "But water is a good idea, yes, it is."

Another gallon of water was poured on his head, drenching Maleficent in the process. Diaval shook his head like his raven self would do under heavy rain.

"Well, I must admit that was refreshing."

"I'm still too hot, Diaval." Her eyes suggested more than the weather. "I mean it."

"What do you want to…"

Leaving his phrase unfinished, Maleficent flapped her wings soared high, spraying water in her wake. Diaval wasted no time to shift into raven and to follow her, wondering what his favourite fae was plotting. The cliff she was approaching gave him some idea, confirmed when she dived from the heights and spiralled to a waterfall.

He found her slipping out of her gown and tiptoeing behind the curtain of water, a wicked smile on her perfect red lips. Shifting into man beside her discarded clothes, the raven left his own to keep them company and followed his mistress.

"Enjoying the water, Maleficent?"

The question was rhetoric, as she played with the falling drops with a childish smile. How he loved to see her this way, free of care, shamelessly being herself!

"Shouldn't I? It's so hot it's hard to think straight."

"I might be of help, you know."

"And how is it so?"

A flicker of his fingers had him shifted into fae, black horns and wings taking shape on his beautiful self. Said wings beat once, making wind to fan her naked body.

"Well, well, well… now we're getting somewhere, I deem."

He kept his wings fanning lightly, drying her skin and sending shivers down her spine.

"I must redeem myself from the paprika incident, mistress."

"Now that my mouth isn't burning anymore, I can fancy of a way or two to accomplish this, pretty bird."

"I see that at least the chili incited your appetite."

"You can't imagine how much!"

Their short banter took time enough for her to reach him, and his smile at her fluid movements was of adoration. He felt the luckiest bird of the flock, knowing to what it would lead when her eyes shone like that.

Her fingers traced each of his scars, from his temple to his shoulder and his chest, and her lips followed suit. Now it was his turn to feel shivers. She let her fingernails lead the way back, stopping to bite his nipple and then up to his neck. His earlobe earned a special treatment and for once he was happy for that strange appendage.

"Let me kiss you…"

"Not yet, birdie, I'm not finished with you…."

Diaval let out a moan as she traced his jaw with kisses and light bites, carding his wet hair up to the horns. The sensation of her caress at the base of them was strange, yet good, and he wondered why he didn't have the idea of making love to her in that form yet. The wings helped to keep his balance, used as he was to being a bird.

He was getting insane with her teasing and reached out to touch her breast, only to have his hand slapped away.

"I said I'm not finished yet…"

He groaned in anticipation of what she had in store for him. Every time Maleficent chose to play that way he ended up surrendered and teased to the limits of his body. Nothing to complain about.

Her mouth was on his again, warm and teasing and sweet. Paprika must have something sweet in it, or it was the waters of the overfall. Unable to keep his hands off her, Diaval fingered her hair like she'd done to him just a moment before, caressing the roots of her horns where the skin was soft and sensible.

Maleficent moaned in his mouth at the touch, unable to make him stop despite not having 'finished' with him yet. He took it as a sign that at least he could do to her some of what she was doing to him, and kept his hands on her scalp, playing with her hair.

Her own hands were more daring, as she was the one in command. Rounding his body and reaching for his wings, leaving reddish traces where her fingernails grazed, and then caressing the soft feathers that broke his skin right at his shoulder blades.

"Owh…"

He couldn't help but groan at the new sensation, a mix of what he knew in his human body and the thrill he always felt when she petted him while raven. Only the underside of his wings used to be concealed and this was the first time…

"Aahh…"

…the first time she grazed her fingers through his feathers at such sensible places and he just couldn't…

"Let me touch you!"

She bit his nipple and denied again.

"Not yet!"

His wings fluttered as her hands left them and grazed down his body, finding purchase in his buttocks and kneeling in front of him to reach the part she wanted. Diaval 's eyes opened wide at the new sensation, her mouth engulfing his manhood (manhood, he could not think of it by any other name, it was not a thing birds have, anyway) and sending shivers down his spine. She licked her way back to the tip, grazing teeth between a smile and eyeing him as a predator would do.

"What do you want, Diaval?"

"You!" He supressed a moan by biting his lower lip. "I want you, my mistress, my love, my everything!"

Pulling her arms to help her to stand up, Diaval kissed her hungrily, running his hands all over her body to compensate for what she made him hold back. He found the soft feathers on her back, carding the same places she teased in him before, and felt her shaking under his hands.

He moved his hands away, unsure. Despite her having touched him that way, he knew she was _very_ protective of her own wings – how could she not?

"Don't stop…" She whispered in his ear, trembling but touching his own wings to show it was ok.

"Don't want to hurt you, mistress." He whispered back, trying to sound reassuring. "Never."

"You won't."

"You never let me touch your wings when I'm..."

The statement was true. She let him – actually, enjoyed – preen her feathers when he was in raven shape, but avoided any contact when in human form.

"No." She pushed away a little to catch his eyes in hers. "But then I never thought I'd fall in love again, yet here I am. I love you and I trust you, Diaval. I must overcome my fears. And I never overcame anything by running from it."

As to show him she meant it, Maleficent grabbed his hand and pulled it to her back, the same time touching his own shoulders with her free hand. Leaning into another kiss, Diaval let her guide him, mimicrying her touches, beware of her reactions, until he felt her shivers where no more those of fear, but of excitement. By then he was able to run his hands along every inch of her wings, and she did the same to him, extracting lustful moans from both of them.

"Still hot, mistress?" He used a break to breath to ask her, still worried.

"Hmm… more than ever!"

Her joking left Diaval more at ease, and he smiled to the mistress of his heart. She returned the smile and stepped back, closer to the stone wall beside the waterfall, pulling him along.

"What…?"

"No comfortable place to lie down, pretty bird. And I don't want to waste time flying back to our nest."

Still befuddled, he followed her, enjoying the sight of her powerful wings and bare skin showing underneath. She touched the rough stone, finding crevices where her fingers fit, and looked at him from over her shoulder.

"Anyway, our wings won't trouble us if we are standing, will they?"

Agape, Diaval watched as she spread her wings wide, showing most of her body beneath the beautiful feathers. His black wings fluttered on their own accord, making him blush. He didn't like to have his own body is own

betraying his thoughts, and what he was thinking was…

"Beautiful… you're so beautiful…"

He stepped closer and let his hands dance on her bare skin. Embracing her with care, he could smell the scent of her hair, and his fingers feel the swelling of her nipples, while his member throbbed in anticipation. Her moans of pleasure when he touched her wet folds had him crazy and moving at her back, breath short.

"Do it, Diaval…" She whined, pleading.

"Not yet, mistress… not yet…"

It was his turn to deny her wish, teasing and making her last longer. Burying his face between her wings, he adjusted to have his manhood between her legs but not inside her, instead rubbing his glans against her clit, moving back and forth to take her to the sky without soaring.

Her knuckles were white where she grabbed the rocks for purchase, and sweat dripped from her skin as her body moved in synch with his. They already made love a hundred times or more since that Spring day when she understood his rituals, but this was different. Maybe Spring was mating season for most creatures, but the heat she felt today was overwhelming, to see him naked in his fae shape was bewitching, alluring… She felt another wave of pleasure run through her body and arched back, a hoarse cry and a plea in her mouth.

"Please, Diaval… please do it…"

He moved back and thrust into her to the hilt, groaning her name in a croaked voice. She was slick and hot and oh so tight around him, it took him another moment to come back to his senses. Before he could do it, it was her who was moving against him, rocking slowly, feeling every inch of him rub her inside. He let himself dive into her rhythm, his whole body ablaze with the heat of Summer and of Maleficent, his mind dazed with love and desire. Next time she arched against his chest he bit her neck, holding her fast and fluttering his wings, her beautiful feathers brushing his skin with her own fluttering.

They quickened the pace to a frenetic rhythm, leading them to a shared climax, Maleficent's head bent down and a burst of heat inside her belly. Diaval could feel his own soul surrendering to his mistress, his love, and he could die happy now if demanded.

But it wouldn't.

Panting and sweating, the raven sat down on the stony patch, reaching out his hand to help her down. Maleficent collapsed by his side, using his thigh as a pillow, gazing at the cloudless sky with dreamy eyes.

"I never thought…" She wet her lips with her tongue, blinking. "I never thought it would be different."

"What would be different?"

"Lovemaking with you."

"What… What was different?" Diaval stammered, afraid of having done something wrong. "Was it bad?"

"No, silly bird! It was just… I don't know. I think I just was used to make love to you as a man and now I made love to fae… It felt… _So right_ …"

Diaval laughed out loud, relieved that she was so satisfied with him. He caressed Maleficent's wing.

"Your wings need preening."

"So do yours."

"You know where this will lead us to, don't you?"

"Do you have anything better to do today?"

"Hmm, maybe fix you a decent meal. Paprika-less, of course."

"Maybe you didn't understand that I am… _too hot_ … to eat today."

He looked down at her with adoring eyes, moving a rebellious strand of hair away from her face.

"It is not today that is hot, I mean, that you are hot; actually, if I reckon it right I've been considering you hot since…"

"Diaval."

"Yes, mistress?"

"Stop rambling and kiss me!"


End file.
